Cold Wet and Nasty! Woo Hoo!
Well... my buddy KW and I decided no matter what happens with the weather this weekend we would be going back out to the trails and ride our butts off. And ride we did.
We got out there around 10-10:30 or so as we live about an hour away, and got some food and beverages, and tore off into the weather. The first 15 miles flew by fast, although the damp and cold were seeping in, we kept our adrenaline high enough to keep us warm for the most part. Everything was great. Nobody out there, trees in their last phase, visibility ok for the moment...just chilly and drizzzly.
About 15 miles out came my accident....made matters a little more difficult for me. I was coming into an "S" turn and in the first part thought I had dropped down into second, but to my dismay, when I hit the gas in the berm, I was actually in first!! It spun the wheel right out from under me and landed me on my knee...directly on a rock. Something immediatley told me that I should invest in some knee and elbow pads. No blood, but the nausea and the pain certainly made up for it. Got back up though, and continued our ride.
We got out to the end point, maybe 23 miles or so from start, and it's time to turn around. Now I'm having some serious visibility issues, and the cold is in my hands pretty bad. It no longer feels numb, it just hurts. I had doubled my gloves, but the wet seemed to make that a pointless effort. It felt like no gloves at all. KW's feet hurt, but we know we have to go back the 20+ miles, so we have a bite to eat, warm up a bit, then head back out.
I am having more problems with regard to lens fogging then I can finally deal with, so I take off my glasses, take off my goggles and proceed forward in the spitting rain and sleet...not fun. After about 10 more miles, my hands get so wet and cold that I can't bear the pain anymore, so I stop the bike to warm them for a minute or so. KW is maybe 1/4 mile ahead, and started thinking i wiped out or something. His bike was begining to act up from either the cold, the mix, wet, or just a tuning issue, so he could not turn around to look for me, but luckily I was able to get back on the trail and catch up with him before he came looking for me. We had to get back to the vehicles, so we ripped / limped the last ten miles out and made it back just in the nick of time. His bike stalled and would not start up again, fortunately, we were back at the vehicles, and one our way home.
My gear lessons were: Knee Pads, Elbow pads, and very WARM gloves, a painfull lesson all three, but for winter riding in the North East, I'd say a must have! For the rain, maybe a spare set of goggles... I don't know though if that would have helped at all...
My riding lesson was, if in a berm, and not sure of the gear, put your weight on the outside peg and use less gas! ;)
Dave
Well... my buddy KW and I decided no matter what happens with the weather this weekend we would be going back out to the trails and ride our butts off. And ride we did.
We got out there around 10-10:30 or so as we live about an hour away, and got some food and beverages, and tore off into the weather. The first 15 miles flew by fast, although the damp and cold were seeping in, we kept our adrenaline high enough to keep us warm for the most part. Everything was great. Nobody out there, trees in their last phase, visibility ok for the moment...just chilly and drizzzly.
About 15 miles out came my accident....made matters a little more difficult for me. I was coming into an "S" turn and in the first part thought I had dropped down into second, but to my dismay, when I hit the gas in the berm, I was actually in first!! It spun the wheel right out from under me and landed me on my knee...directly on a rock. Something immediatley told me that I should invest in some knee and elbow pads. No blood, but the nausea and the pain certainly made up for it. Got back up though, and continued our ride.
We got out to the end point, maybe 23 miles or so from start, and it's time to turn around. Now I'm having some serious visibility issues, and the cold is in my hands pretty bad. It no longer feels numb, it just hurts. I had doubled my gloves, but the wet seemed to make that a pointless effort. It felt like no gloves at all. KW's feet hurt, but we know we have to go back the 20+ miles, so we have a bite to eat, warm up a bit, then head back out.
I am having more problems with regard to lens fogging then I can finally deal with, so I take off my glasses, take off my goggles and proceed forward in the spitting rain and sleet...not fun. After about 10 more miles, my hands get so wet and cold that I can't bear the pain anymore, so I stop the bike to warm them for a minute or so. KW is maybe 1/4 mile ahead, and started thinking i wiped out or something. His bike was begining to act up from either the cold, the mix, wet, or just a tuning issue, so he could not turn around to look for me, but luckily I was able to get back on the trail and catch up with him before he came looking for me. We had to get back to the vehicles, so we ripped / limped the last ten miles out and made it back just in the nick of time. His bike stalled and would not start up again, fortunately, we were back at the vehicles, and one our way home.
My gear lessons were: Knee Pads, Elbow pads, and very WARM gloves, a painfull lesson all three, but for winter riding in the North East, I'd say a must have! For the rain, maybe a spare set of goggles... I don't know though if that would have helped at all...
My riding lesson was, if in a berm, and not sure of the gear, put your weight on the outside peg and use less gas! ;)
Dave
Last edited:
